Biden flies commercial from Reagan National Airport and winds up stuck in delays like everyone else [View all]

Source: Associated Press, via WTOP

Biden flies commercial from Reagan National Airport and winds up stuck in delays like everyone else

The Associated Press
February 27, 2026, 1:34 PM







WASHINGTON (AP) — A crowd gathered at a commuter gate at Reagan National Airport on Friday as fog-laden Washington skies caused an hourlong ground stop that backed up passengers hoping to head out from American Airlines’ Terminal D.

But soon the already densely packed area swelled even more, as word spread across nearby gates that, of the hundreds of air travelers coming and going, only one among them was accompanied by a U.S. Secret Service detail, along with uniformed local police officers: former President Joe Biden.

Biden, who has rarely made public appearances since leaving office last year, sat, like many of his fellow passengers, awaiting a flight that would take him to Columbia, South Carolina, for an evening event with the South Carolina Democratic Party. ... Passengers whispered and gaped in wonder: Why would a man who for a time was leader of the free world be, like they were, at the mercy of airport travel delays, even as he sat ensconced in his security detail?

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The woman who took the aisle seat next to the former president first set down her coffee on the arm rest they shared, deposited a bag in the overhead compartment, then sat down and realized her seatmate was the nation’s 46th president. ... Biden set his hand on her cup to steady it, then met her gaze with a hello as she took her seat. ... “I feel like I’m about to cry,” the woman said, as they shook hands and, over the course of the next hour, chatted throughout the flight.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.

Read more: https://wtop.com/national/2026/02/biden-flies-commercial-from-reagan-national-airport-and-winds-up-stuck-in-delays-like-everyone-else/